Water diverter



March 29, 1960 c. M. SMITH 2,930,392

,WATER DIVERTER Filed July 1?, 1957 United States Patent 2,930,392 WATER DIVER'IER Clarence M. Smith, Detroit, Mich. Application July 12, 1957, Serial No. 671,575 v 1 Claim. Cl. 137-119 This invention relates to building equipment, and has particular reference to the caves and down spouts of a system for removing rain water from the roofs of houses and the like. g

An object of the invention is to provide a device, which when combined with a down spout, causes excessive water in the down spout to be diverted from the storm sewer system of the building, whereby to prevent the overloading of the footing drains and storm'sewer.

Another object of the invention is to prevent rain water from backing up into the basement, whereby to eliminate the flooding of basement drains and kindred difficulties, such as the buckling of the floors, and damage to the contents of the basement and the like.

Another object of the invention is the provision of the device of the character indicated, which will automatically function to divert the water from the down spout and drains in the event of an excessive downpour.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device of the character indicated, which will permit the water from an ordinarily light rain to enter the building drain, but which will automatically divert any excessive downpour of rain water, and prevent it from entering the drain.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a down spout water diverter, which is provided with means for adjusting the moving parts of the device, so that varying volumes of water may be permitted to pass through the device, or be diverted thereby.

Another object of the invention is toprovide a device of the character indicated, which is provided with means for locking the moving parts of the device in varying dey gress of adjustment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character indicated, which is provided with means for locking the diverter in either fully open, or closed position.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds, reference being made from time to ime to the accompanying drawings forming part of the within disclosure, in which drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying the invention, installed in the down spout of a system for removing rain water from the roof of a building.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the valve employed in the device illustrated in Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a reduced vertical section, taken through the device illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a stamping, from which the valve shown in Fig. 2 is fabricated.

I am aware of the fact that others have combined elements with down spouts, for controlling the flow of water into a cistern or the like, but I am not aware of the fact that means have ever been devised for diverting, or controlling, the flow of water in a down spout to preice vent the flooding of a basement in the manner herein disclosed.

vhouses, causing untold damage to the buildings and their contents, as well as tothe health of the occupants.

It is, therefore, one of the purposes of this invention to obviate the foregoing difficulties, and to provide other advantages.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, it will be understood that in the embodiment herein disclosed, the reference characters 7 and 8 indicate the upper and lower sections of a down spout, which is connected 'to the eaves trough of a building for disposing of rain water falling on the roof. The down spout 7 and.8 is shown as being constructed in rectangular form, how-f ever, it will be understood that the down spout may have a circular, oval, or other cross section if desired. The device embodying the invention consists, in general, of a rectangular body comprising a back wall 9, side walls 10 and 11, and a front wall 12, which is provided with an opening 13 therein, in which opening is'pivotally mounted, as at 14, the diverter valve 15, which is described more particularly hereinafter. The pivot 14 is carried in bearing members 14A which are secured to the sidewalls 10 and 11.

The upper end of the rectangular body just described, is closed by means of a top 16, which is provided with a rectangular fitting 17, in which is received the, section 7 of the down spout, which section 7 of the down spout is held in firm contact with the fitting 17 by means of a set screw 18. In applications where the down spout is not of rectangular cross section, the fitting 17 will have to be shaped accordingly, so as to snugly receive the down spout. The lower end of the body member is closed by a bottom member 19, which is likewise provided with a fitting 20, which is received on the inside of the section 8 of the down spout, and is likewise secured in position by means of a set screw 21. The body and fittings just described are preferably made of thin gage sheet metal, and may be fabricated and secured together in conventional manner.

The valve member 15 is preferably formed of a single sheet of metal, which is initially stamped out to form a piece, such as illustrated in Fig. 4. The stamping shown in Fig. 4 consists of a central section 22 and wing sections 23 and 24. The central section 22 is bent along the line 25 to form two angularly disposed panels 22A and 22B (Fig. 2). The edges 23A of the wing portions 23 are welded to the panel 22A, as at 26. The central portion 22 is also bent along the line 27 tofprovide a double wall thickness, as at 28 (Fig. 2).

a rearwardly directed panel 31, to which the edges 24A of the wings 24 are welded, as at 32 (Fig. 2). The end 33 of the stamping is rolled, as shown in Fig. 2, to form a retainer for a counterweight rod 34, which normally keeps the valve 15 in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3, in which position the upper end of the valve 15 abuts against the inside face of the upper portion of the front wall 12, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. An adjustment screw member 36 is threaded into a bearing member 37 and permits the upper end of the valve 15 to be set at various degrees of adjustment. A locking lever 37A is pivotally 7 2,930,392 Patented Mar- The return portion 29 is rebent on the line 30 to provide When the device is assembled as hereinabove described,

the counterweight 34,, atthe bottom of the valve 15, will cause the valve to assume the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3. In this position there is considerable clearance between the outwardly directed panel 31 of the valve, and the back wall 9 of the body of the device.

This will permit any small amount of water to fall through the device without disturbing the valve 15, B ut should any excessive amount of water come through the down spout 7, the wjeigh t and force Ofthewate falling on the extension 31 of the valve, would overcome the effect of the counterweight 34, and the upper end of the valve 15 would rock rearwal 'd l y, into closely contaeting relation with the rear wall 9 ofwthe device, Thiswould divert all of the water falling through the downspout section 7, away from the downspout section 8, thus pre venting the excessive water from going through the down spout section 8 into the storm sewer, thus relieving the overload on the sewer. If it is desired to hold the valve 15 in fixed water diverting position, the locking arm 37 may easily be rocked into position so as to contact: the rear face of the lower portion of the valve, to prevent its return movement. i i

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have disclosed a novel meansfor diverting the excessive flow of water from the down spout of an eaves trough;

Having described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In combination with the downspout of an eaves trough, a housing having a fitting at the upper end for receiving a portion of said downspout, a fitting at the lower end to be received in a portion of said downspout, said housing having a front opening in which is pivoted a valve, said valve having an upper portion including means responsive to flow through said housing which oscillates within the housing, between a non-diverting position in which it co-acts with a front wall of said housing to permit the flow through said housing, and a diverting position, in which it co-acts with a rear wall of said housing to direct the flow through the said front opening, means normally biasing said valve to a non-diverting position, said valve having a lower portion which oscillates outside of saidhousiug to direct the flow to waste when the flow on the means ofsaid upper portion is excessive.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 

